Does Swimming Count as Wudoo?
Understanding the Relationship Between Ghusl and Wudoo: When Does Full Bathing Count as Purification?
Summary
This lecture from the Muslim Community Center of Tucson discusses the Islamic rules and etiquette of ritual purification (wudoo and ghusl) as detailed in Al-Wajeez. Sh. Ali Mashhour clarifies a commonly misunderstood concept regarding the relationship between major hadith (janaba) and minor hadith (lesser impurities), explaining that when a person performs ghusl (full body washing) to remove major hadith, it automatically removes minor hadith as well, making a subsequent wudoo unnecessary. However, Sh. Ali Mashhour emphasizes an important distinction: ghusl only counts as fulfilling the wudoo requirement when it is performed specifically to remove major hadith with the intention of worship, not merely for personal cleanliness or hygiene reasons.
The lecture addresses a frequent misconception where people mistakenly believe that any full-body bathing—such as swimming, showering for hygiene, or bathing at the gym—automatically satisfies the wudoo requirement. Sh. Ali Mashhour provides practical examples and explains that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not perform wudoo after ghusl when the ghusl was done to remove major hadith. The critical distinction is that only water that is applied with the specific intention of removing major hadith counts toward the wudoo requirement; casual bathing for cleanliness does not.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Alhamdulillah.
[Silence]
Our class or our discussion, our reading of Wajis and discussing the Sunnah of the prophet, our prophet, our messenger sallall.aii Wasallam with respect to wudoo and we had arrived at the chapter regarding the times occasions instances in which is preferred. And so the authors mention a number of things such as generally speaking wudoo for every remembrance of Allah such as wudoo before a person goes to sleep for a person in a state of janaba and then and we ended yesterday morning discussing woo at the start of making take ma making and having made. Now one of the issues that is so commonly misconstrued misunderstood is the nature of and its effects on wudoo. We've mentioned before that hadith state of spiritual impurity it is of two types. There is major hadith and minor hadith. Major hadith means a person or major impurity means a person needs to bathe in order to remove it. Geneaba after menration for women after postpartum bleeding etc. You must bathe in order for this to be removed alleviated in order to make salah. Minor hadith you just need. Now as a general rule, if a person bathes to remove major hadith, then minor hadith is removed as well. What does that translate to? That means that if a person is in a state of janaba for instance and he wishes to pray does he have to take makeul and then make wub to pray? No. He merely makes and the act of making removes that major hadith and by extension removes the minor hadith with it. And this is something that was narrated to have taught the companions, taught the and to have driven this point home. And that is the act that removes major hadith will remove with it minor hadith. And so if a person bathes they do not have to make as a matter of fact explicitly said in she positively says that the messenger of Allah wasallam would not bathe would excuse me would not make wudoo after bathing. He would not do that. That was not his sunnah. His sunnah is that he would bathe and then that is it. He would not bathe and then after that make wudoo. Now notice the caveat there. Notice the condition. The condition is that the be for major hadith in order for it to count for if it is for minor if it is for you know just for let's say a person is bathing because they bathe every morning before they go to work or they're bathing because they just got home from the gym and they're sweaty and they're right and so They're bathing to clean themselves, but they're not in a state of janaba. They're not in a state of major hadith. Do they have to make wudoo? Absolutely, they have to make wudoo because only that is made as an act of worship is what will what will count towards a person's woo. And this is a common common mistake. When I was living in the Caribbean, you know, we would go to the beach. I mean, gosh, it's an island, right? So, beaches everywhere. And commonly when time for salah would come around, guys and gals would go into the water, submerge themselves under the water, and come back out and think that they have woo. Unless a person is in a state of janaba, that will not count as woo. That doesn't count as anything. A person is commanded to make woo. If a person bathes, it still will not count as woo, right? And we've mentioned this before. Let's say a person a person is commanded to wipe over their head in wudoo. If a person were to wash their head, which is more than wiping, right? Would it count? Absolutely not. But it's better. It's not what was commanded. What was commanded is to is to wipe over the head. This is an important point. The only time will count towards your woo is if that is made in order to remove major hadith. If you are in janaba for men that's the only instance if you are in a state of janaba and for women if they are in a state of janaba or if they are in a state of you know after menration and so forth.
[Silence]
[Arabic recitation]
If a person makes to clean himself not for janaba but they make it in the way that the prophet made right so he made wudoo through it but it's not for janaba do they have wudoo absolutely because they made wudoo right that's the point how did the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam make? Well, we described, he would wash his hands and then his private parts and then he would make woo he would make for salah. Then he'd pour the water on his head three times and then his right side and then his left side and then his feet. We went over this yesterday. If a person bathes in this way and they intended to have woo, they have voodoo. But what is the bare minimum of? The bare minimum of is that water completely run over the entirety of a person's body including their mouth and nose with intention of this is if a person does this do they have if that was from janaba then yes they have they have because what removes the major hadith will remove with it the minor hadith And so, , it's very important to make this distinction. I cannot tell you how many if I had a dime, if I had a niggle for every person that made this mistake that I've met in my life that made this confusion that asked me this question, I would be I would have a sizable, you know, a sizable a small fortune because this is such Such a common misconception. You would open a book in you would read that says that if removes major hadith then it removes minor hadith and if a person makes they don't have to ba they don't have to make and they don't differentiate between bathing which is worship and bathing which is which is custom to to clean yourself Right. Subhanali.
[Silence]
Wasam.